


This is Where it Ends

by EveryOtherMemory



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Civil War Fix-It, Civil War Team Captain America, Civil War Team Iron Man, Divorce, M/M, Miscommunication, Mutual Pining, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, So I am told anyway, Trying to see both sides of the Civil War, kind of, may be triggering for Domestic violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2019-01-20 11:42:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12432099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EveryOtherMemory/pseuds/EveryOtherMemory
Summary: Post Civil War.This is my attempt at a team neutral fic.Tony receives a few more papers rather than just a note and a dinosaur era phone.





	1. A little extra paper in his note..

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing in years. However, I could not get this out of my head. I love constructive criticism. Thanks guys! I ask that you all read the notes before the chapter because many of you seem to skip those as well as the tags. Read all the tags guys. They're important.

Tony sat in his lab, eyes closed in a vain attempt to warn off the migraine that was threatening to over take his vision. He was hunched over a table, a letter and several official looking documents were spread in front of him. "Boss." FRIDAY's voice interrupted his internal musings. "Ms. Potts is on the line for you." 

Tony opening his eyes and turned his head to the nearest camera. "Take a message. I am dealing with something right now."

"Off course, Boss." Tony's eyes turned back to the papers in front of him. So this was what the civil war, as the press was calling it, had come to. Half the Avengers fucked off to Wakanda, Rhodey learning how to walk again, Vision discovering the pain of heartbreak and Tony's marriage ending in shambles. 

The divorce papers were sitting in front of him, forward to him with a half-assed letter and a delivery man who can't recognize one of the most famous names in history. They already held his soon to be ex-husband's scrawling signature. Steven G. Rogers. 

Tony felt another twinge of the migraine. He took a swig of the cup of half cold coffee that has been in his mug for the past two hours. Grimacing at the taste, he located a pen. This was it, everything that has happened in the last three years ends in "irreconcilable differences." He snorted, 'yeah reconcilable was one word for it. Being beaten half to death and left in a freezing bunker with a unusable suit, an arm and an iconic shield was another. '  
He found the "sign here" tab and signed his name with a flourish and finality. He was officially Tony Stark again.  
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````  
Steve Roger-Stark sprinted through the wilds of Wakanda, attempting to out run his nightmares, his mistakes and his regrets. It wasn't working. 

He ran through the whole thing over and over in his mind. He did the right thing defending Bucky against Tony. Tony would have killed him. Should of he hit the arc reactor? No, but Tony wouldn't have stopped. In the heat of the moment, He didn't know what else to do. He wouldn't stand down, he just kept coming. He saw it over and over in his nightmares. He saw the look in his husband's eyes when he brought down the shield the final time. He thought Steve was going to kill him. That look will never erase itself from his mind.  
That was why he sent the divorce papers. He couldn't live with the fact that he put that look on his husband's face. He had to set Tony free to find someone who would't put the look of fear on his face. 

Lost in his thoughts, he hadn't heard his phone, that phone, ringing. 'Shell-head' was flashing on the face of his phone. He fumbled it, trying to answer as quickly as he could. "Hello? Tony?" 

"Captain Rogers." A female voice spoke back to him. Steve's stomach dropped. FRIDAY. "Mr. Stark has signed the proposed papers, where would you like the sent?"

Steve's chest ached, he signed them? No contest? He stuttered to answer FRIDAY. "Um... Just to my lawyer in Hell's Kitchen would be fine...I guess.."

"Excellent. I will forward the paper to the proper lawyer. " The line went dead. So FRIDAY was mad at him too. Delightful. 

With the heartbreak in his chest and the nausea in his stomach, he jogged back to the compound where T'Challa had let him and the other Avengers stay. 

"Nice Jog?" Sam looked up at him from his place on the couch. CNN was playing in the background. Something about a hurricane building in the gulf. 

"yeah, beautiful scenery out there." Steve prayed that Sam's counselor instincts wouldn't kick in. 

"what's going on?" Damn, no luck. 

"Heard from Tony, well FRIDAY." Steve muttered. Again, hoping that Sam would let it go. 

"What?!" Sam's voice was louder than it needed to be. 

"Yeah, signed the papers I sent. Needed to know where to send them." 

"Oh... Steve, I'm....well sorry doesn't seems to be enough...." 

"It's fine, I sent them for them to be signed. That was the whole point. It's better this way."


	2. A Fed-Ex Package

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rogue avengers receive some paperwork.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am floored at the response this has gotten. Just floored. Thank you so much for all the Kudos and the comments! I love the debate that is happening in the comments. I love seeing everyone's feelings.  
> FYI: This is unbeta'd. All mistakes are mine.

A new day found Tony, again bent over a pile of official looking paperwork. His glasses were perched at the end of his nose as he read and reread the fine print.

"Are those the new accords?" A sudden voice startled Tony from the text below him.

"Rhodey! Jesus warn a man! I have a heart condition remember!"

Rhodey chuckled, it was not very often he scared Tony. "I remember, it was all you talked about for a few years there." He replied with a wink. "But seriously are those the new Accords?"

"No, these are the pardons I am getting to The Captain and the Douche-berries."

Rhodey frowned. "What the hell are you getting them pardons for?! We don't need them! You got me up to snuff and you have your suit fixed. So why do we need them?"  
"Something big is coming Cupcake. You can't seriously tell me that we have eliminated every threat out there. Even if they stay off in the jungle, we can't handle the whole continent."

"Well not the whole Continent but at least New England." Rhodey replied with narrowed eyes. "I mean seriously with your new spiderling and the inhumans running around."  
"Honey-bear, we have to think of the bigger picture. Space is ever expanding and Thor has been incomunicado for a while now." Tony sighed. He knew Rhodey would react this way. As Tony's best friend, he is obligated to be pissed off about how the disagreement ended. Rhodey was even more mad about the divorce than Tony was. Tony was upset, I mean who wouldn't, Divorce sucked. Especially, if you didn't know it was coming. But Tony got it. He knew the beating he took was just to stop him from killing Bucky. He knew Steve didn't mean to hurt him and the blow to reactor was just to stop him from getting back up. He knew he made it look effortless but the armor was heavy as shit. In retrospect, yeah if Steve had been trying to kill Rhodey, Tony probably would have reacted the same way. He is still a little salty about the whole 'Sometimes my teammates don't tell me things' line when Steve had been hiding the little gem that the Winter Soldier killed his parents. They both had the right to be angry, but Tony thought they would have gotten through it. They made it through Ultron and was this seriously worse than a murder bot? Tony realized while he was off in his own world that his Honey-Bear was still ranting about not needing the other Avengers.  
"...Charles and the other mutants, why the fuck would you invite them back. I mean especially your ex-husband and his crazy bestie?!" He stopped for breath. "Tony, you can't really think that getting them pardoned and invite them back to the clubhouse will make everything ok?"

"No, it can never go back to what is was. But what if aliens attack again, or Richards finally creates a monster he can't stop? We need the help and quite a few of our hard hitters have run away." Tony sighed again. "Besides its not like I am getting them pardoned and then letting them go back to everything the way it was. There are stipulations for each of them. They all will have to redraft the Accords, together, with us. Wanda will spend time with Charles, to work on her control. Sam has community service with any charity he chooses, I recommended the VA. Barnes with have to undergo therapy for PTSD and brainwashing, he can't be part of the Avengers until he can prove that he can control the Winter Soldier. Captain will be a part of Barnes therapy and all of us will be taking some serious communication and team building workshops. Yay." Tony finished with a deadpan expression, his hands lifted in a mocking celebratory motion. "Everyone has them, including you, me and Vision. Good times are to be had by all."

Rhodey narrowed his eyes. "I still don't like it. Where are they going to stay? Here at the mansion or the compound?"

"The compound. Once I get their agreements I will reopen it."

"Fine Tones. I don't like it but hey I trust that you know what you are doing. So bring on the party."  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Steve woke up to shouting. He blinked, noticing it was bright out. 'Missed my run' he thought. The shouting brought him back to the situation in the other room. Sounded like Sam and Clint. Steve sighed. 'Go figure, better go see what the issue is.' Steve stretched and got out of bed. He padded barefoot out to the common room. Sure enough Sam and Clint were both red in the face yelling at each other. Wanda at the counter with a cup of tea in her hand. She looked like she just got up herself, not quite comprehending what the yelling was about.

"What is going on?" Steve broke the loudness. All three turned to look at him. Sam and Clint tried to answer him at the same time.

"we got..."

"He kno..."

They stopped and turned to glare at each other. Steve sighed again. Rolling his eyes he turned to Sam. "What happened?"

"We got a package this morning... from New York..." Sam looked a little apprehensive, as if he wasn't sure how Steve would react. At Steve's blank expression, he continued. "Tony got us all pardoned if we ..."

"If we sign over our freedom!" Clint interrupted "He knows where we are! It was addressed directly to us!" He was holding the envelope, that the stack of paper on the coffee table must have come in. Steve took his from him and looked at it. 'Wnghead and his merry band of men and woman.' was printed on a FedEx envelope. Steve's face broke into a small grin despite the tension in the room.

"Yeah, I know he knows. FRIDAY called me a few days ago." Steve stopped talking at Clint's huff. He shot a look at Clint and continued."Nothing has happened yet, I doubt its going to. So what is this about pardons?" He turned to Sam.

Sam was looking calmer, now that Steve hadn't started yelling too. "He sent a letter as well as pardons we have to sign if we want to go home. They seem to be reasonable demands to me."

Steve wordlessly held his hand out for the letter that he assumed Sam was holding. Sam handed it to him and Steve read.

To Robin and His Merry band of followers,  
Suprise! I got you all pardoned if you sign the following pages. Best I could do under the circumstances. We, here all have stipualtions too. Not just you guys, Feathers. Plus by the time you get these I should have taken care of a big thorn in all our sides, Check out CNN later today.  
Anyway, so you guys have to sign these saying you agree to the terms and conditions, I would actually read these ones, they aren't like the Terms and Conditions for your email. Sign and return them with a carrier. I have included a return envelope for your convience. If you sign them, the compound will be open for you. If you don't.. well enjoy the jungle, Mogeli.  
Tony Stark.

His signature was hand written in looped handwriting. The patented "Tony Stark Official signature" Not like all the little notes Steve had hidden in a box under their bed at the compound with 'Tony' scrawled at the bottom. Steve blinked a few tears out. He hadn't yet told the other Avengers about the divorce. "Well, what are the stipulations?" He asked Sam.

"It's different for everyone" He replied. "Mine are 1. Help rewrite the accords 2. Community service at any charity I choose, the VA has asked for me specifically though 3. Attend all communication and team building classes with the other Avengers. " He finished. He looked up at Steve. "I want to do it Steve. These are easy terms and I miss home."

Clint growled from the couch looking at what Steve assumed was his paperwork."Mine are similar. 1. Rewrite the Accords 2. Make up with the wife and Kids 3. Attend all communication and Team building exercise. 4. Take the damn kids to a Yankee's game. Tickets included." He read from his perch. "What a smart ass." He finished.

Steve snorted. That was definitely something Tony would do. He walked towards the stack of paperwork, looking for his. His was extra thick. He looked down at the first page.

Steve,  
I have signed what you sent me, uncontested. I have forwarded them to your lawyer and they have been accepted. As of last Thursday, we are not longer bound in matrimony. Congratulations.

Steve frowned at this. 'Congratulations? For what? Its not like he actually wanted this.' He continued reading.

I hope that this is what you wanted. All I have wanted is that you are happy. I hope you find someone who does make you happy and doesn't disagree with you on almost everything. By the time you return I will have moved from the room at the compound. You will still have to see me at team meetings and the communication shit that we have to go to. I hope by then you aren't still mad about the whole trying to kill your best friend thing. I get it. I was blinded by my rage and grief. I have written a letter to Barnes too. Its with his paperwork. I hope we can repair what happened to us as a team. I hope to see you all soon.  
Tony


	3. Black Widow Returns Home

Tony watched the TV in glee, more than a little proud of himself. Somehow the press got a anonymous tip about General Ross. Turns out the man has gotten his fingers sticky in all sorts of pies. Unlawful imprisonment, unethical human experimentation and the best of all, tax evasion. That will be the that sticks , even though Tony made sure they had plenty of evidence about the others as well. Tony sipped at his cup of scalding coffee, smiling, knowing that where ever Banner is now, he hopes that Bruce knows that Tony took care of his particular thorn for him. Also means that it makes rebuilding the Accords and the Avengers easier. 

A small movement in the corner of his eye made his turn his head. When he looked, he didn't see anything, after living and training with the spy twins for years, he knew better.  
"Nat. Do you think they'll keep Ross in the Raft with all the other people who hate our guts?"

Her small snort of amusement gave away her presence. 'You're getting better at this." 

"Well that and FRIDAY told me you entered the mansion over an hour ago. What have you been doing in that time? Bubble Bath?" 

She simply rolled her eyes at him. "I had to unpack, of course. I took the one next to yours." She sighed. "Did you have anything to do with that?" Her head nodded towards the now muted TV. 

Tony smiled. "What little ol' me? I would never get into his email and forward the self damning documents to the more annoying journalists in the country as well as his superiors in the US Congress and military. Absolutely not. How could you even insinuate such a thing?!" His hands crossed his chest as he fluttered his eyelashes at her. In what he knew was the picture of innocence. 

The corners of her mouth turned up in an almost smile. Her hypercritical eyes roamed over him. Taking in the bags under his eyes and his smaller than usual frame. "You ok?"  
"Yeah. I'm fine" His hands dropped. He looked her straight in the eyes. " My best friend can't feel anything from the waist down, all my so called friends fucked off to Wakanda with King Kitty, and took my now ex-husband with them. Yeah I am terrific, thanks. He smiled at her. She noticed it wasn't real smile, it was his 'yeah let's stop talking about this, so I am smiling at you so you'll drop it' smile. She wasn't fooled. 

"Steve sent you divorce papers?" This actually surprised Natasha. She never expected that of him. She thought that if anyone was going to send papers, it would be Tony. "When did that happen?" 

Tony sighed, his shoulders dropping. His eyes betraying the sadness he was holding in. "Two weeks ago, along with his bullshit apology letter, telling me the Avengers were my family. Yup They are all three of them. Because despite one of them letting them escape, I still consider her family. Well now I do, back when it happened I was pissed as hell. I get it now, and I have blown up a few targets so we're good." He finished looking up at her once more. "We're good right? That is why you came back isn't it?"

Natasha nodded and smiled at him. "Yeah we're good"  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Steve was nervous. Today was the day they we're head back home. Back to the compound. Back to Tony...

"Hey Cap!" Clint's voice pierced through Steve's thoughts. "You ready, just finished pre flight checks, we're good. Let's go before they change their mind."  
Steve turned to Clint, nodding in his direction to indicate he needed a minute. Then turning to King T'Challa, who was standing nearby. "I really can't thank you enough, your majesty. You took us in when no one else would. Also for everything you are doing for Buck. "

"Captain, please do not take this personally but I did not do it for you. That man has been through a lot and deserves a safe place to heal. He made a smart move going back into cryo and once my scientists figure out how to reverse the winter soldier programming, he will be able to move on. Until that day he is safe." T'Challa smiled at him. "Besides, I did try to kill him. It's the least I can do."

Steve smiled back. "All the same, appreciated." He reached out his right hand to shake T'Challa's. Turning back to the Quinjet, he walked back to his team.  
The flight from Wakanda was long and the tension in the jet was so thick that no one dared to break it. Steve was lost in thought about what he was about to walk into. Was Tony going to be there? He simultaneously wanted to see Tony and did not want to ever see him again. Did he clean out their room and the compound or did he just shut the door and never look back? Was he really going to make Steve sleep in their marriage bed? His hands were shaking simply from the thought of it. What would Steve do if Tony was there to greet them? Several scenarios ran through his mind, everything from Tony greeting on the landing pad in the suit to Tony breaking down in sobs in his arm, begging to Steve to take him back. Steve almost snorted out loud at the last one. Tony was many things but breaking down in tears in front of someone who hurt him was not one of them. He was pretty sure Tony was going to be there to greet the wayward Avengers. That is what Tony did. He faced most problems faced on. He fixed things. 

"Cap...Cap...STEVE." He jumped at the sound of his name being called. He was so lost in thought he never heard Clint call his name. He looked up. Clint was staring back. "You ok Cap?" 

Steve half nodded. "Yeah. What's going on?"

"We just crossed in US airspace. ETA at the compound is 10 minutes. We're clear. Just wanted you to know." 

"Oh... Ok..." Steve looked down at his hands. 10 minutes to see Tony. His heart sped up. He was going to see Tony again, after Siberia, after the reveal of his parents deaths, after the divorce.. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly through his lips. He could do this. He took another breath. 

He felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up he say Sam, with his head cocked to the side. Silently answering the unasked question with a nod. Sam was a good friend. He knew this was going to be hard for Steve. He was letting Steve know he was here for him. Steve felt the Quinjet land. This was it. 

The doors opened and Steve deplaned. Squinting in the brightness of the New York sun, he came face to face with his ex-husband. Flanked on either side of Tony was Vision and Rhodey. Natasha was on Vision's left. He looked good. Better than he had last time Steve had saw him on TV, not long after the Civil War. He took a deep breath and put on his best Captain America smile. 

"Hello Tony."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry this took so long. RL has been busy and I had a bad case of writers block. Luckily I'm better now. I appreciate all of you who have left Kudos and comments. Thank you. Also I apologize that it is so short. I swear it looked longer on my computer. Plus who doesn't love a good cliffhanger!


	4. An Awkward Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Steve meet face to face for the first time since the Civil War

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it has been a while. I started another job. two full time jobs, who needs sleep? I finally had time to sit down and whack out a chapter. I have updated the tags, mostly because some people pointed out somethings. I don't see it but I would hate to trigger someone. 
> 
> Anyway, this is unbetad as always. 
> 
> I hope the formatting is a little better here. I am going to go back in chapters and look at the previous chapter's formatting and figure out what happened. 
> 
> I am still editing comments, I tried to reply to all those I approved. They make my day when I get them! I love all the kudos you have been sending too. Thank you so much for all the attention this has gotten.

To say Tony was nervous was a bit of an understatement. First time seeing his ex team, which was led by his ex-husband. Whom he has not seen since they're 'disagreement' in Siberia. He was standing outside on the landing pad outside the compound. He had opened it when the "rogue" avengers had been pardoned. 

He had been living in the old Stark Mansion, he had started remodeling it after Steve and He had gotten married. Figured they might need a place for them, no married couple wants to have spies for roommates... or any roommates for that matter. So long story short he had almost finished the remodel when he received his packet from Steve. With the Avengers compound for them, Pepper and Happy running Stark industries from Malibu there was not need to keep the Tower. 

Happy came back to supervise the move, not trusting the other heads of security to do it. Of course, He wasn't expecting Spiderling either. Close enough. Anyway, so here he stands with Rhodey, Vision and Natasha, waiting for his Ex and his friends to show their faces. He took a deep breath, check his glasses to make sure they were over his eyes. He plastered his media smile TM on. He was ready as he could be. 

Steve was first off the Quinjet, closely followed by Sam. Steve was smiling, but not his real one. He had on his Captain America Smile, the same one he used to sell War Bonds. Soon came Wanda, Scott and Clint. Bucky was curiously missing. Tony filed that away for future inspection. Steve had a hand reached out as if to shake his hand or to pull him into a hug. He used to do both often back when they were a couple. Tony wiped the thought from his mind, not the time and place. Tony stepped forward, sunglasses still on, Media Smile TM still in place. "Welcome back Cap, Falcon, Birdbrain, Wanda and... who are you again?" Tony flashed his smile at those gathered behind Cap. Scott opened his mouth to inform Tony just who he was again. Clint put his hand on Scott's shoulder, shaking his head at him. Steve stepped closer, his hands dropping back to his side. 

"You look good Tony." He almost whispered. "I missed you."

Tony took a step back, because even Steve's smell, clean and peppermint, that ridiculous bar of soap he still insists on using. Tony couldn't handle being that close to him, it hurt. "Captain," he spoke loudly so even Clint and Scott could hear him, while give Cap a small salute. "Good to have you all back. So here is the quick rundown. The Compound is exactly the way you left it. Scott, there is a room for you too. Ask FRIDAY to show you. The hole in the floor has been fixed." He turned to Wanda, eyebrow raising. "The Lawyers are at your beck and call if you have questions about the rewrites of the accords. 24/7. That is what they are paid for. Natasha and Vision will be here as well to answer any questions and to continue training with the team. New and Not as Evil Shield is also on standby if there are any problem. Honey Bear and I will be on call as well. Although not here, Have FRIDAY contact me to set up a meeting. OK I think that explains everything. We good? Good." Tony turned to walk away without receiving an answer and was almost to the door when Cap's voice stopped him. 

"You won't be here?" 

"No, I have a place a little closer to NYC. Got to stay close to the multi-billion company that has my name on it." Tony Answered without turning around.

"I thought you sold the tower..." Steve's voiced trailed off uncertain.

"I did." 

"Are you living in the mansion? I thought you hated that place?" Steve sounded concerned. 

"Amazing what a full remodel can do for moral." With that he walked out, Rhodey close behind. Tony managed to keep the panic attack back until he reached his helicopter on the front landing pad. He had a bottle of water and a snack in his hand before he could even get the first tear out. Bless Rhodey. That man was getting an army of suites. 

"I'm proud of you. I wanted to pummel him to pieces but you kept that very civil." Rhodey sat next to him. His own water bottle and packet of Peanuts in his hands. "Now that you have the first meeting out of the way, what are you going to do Tones?"

Tony smiled. "Same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try to save the world."  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Steve sat in what used to be his and Tony's room at the compound. Tony had gotten all of his items out of the room, left all of Steve's possessions in place. Except one thing was missing. The framed photo of Tony and Steve on their wedding day. It had been hung on the wall above their dresser. Now there was some abstract painting in its place.  
Steve didn't know if Tony had taken it with him or burned it or hid it in a box with their other pictures. Ones that had hung all over the Compound and the Tower. Pictures from Christmas's, birthdays and other wedding photos. There used to be one in the hallway, them surrounded by all the Avengers. Before it all went to shit, before Thor and Bruce vanished, just before. It's gone, in its place is a framed nature scene. 

Steve could remember their wedding day. They had a small intimate ceremony with just the avengers, Pepper and Happy. Pepper had walked Tony down the isle and Sam had stood as Steve's best man. Tony had objected right up to the time to walk that 'he was not the bride, Steve should walk down the isle he was ken doll.' Pepper had insisted so Tony was escorted. They had a big party afterwards for all the staff and the press were allowed to attend that. It truly was one of the happiest days of his life, the only thing that could have made it better was to have Bucky standing between him and Sam. Now he had Bucky (well kinda, frozen Bucky was better than no Bucky), but no Tony. He sighed. What a mess. 

Tony had been very short. Not that Steve had expected anything less. He had talked to him, which was a step in the right direction. Steve was concerned about him living in the Mansion. Tony did not have good memories from living there. He hadn't really step foot there since his parents had died. With the truth being recently revealed, Steve had a hard time believing that Tony would up and decided to live there. Plus why would he sell the Tower? Tony was proud of that damn steel monstrosity. With that Spider kid from Queens you would think that Tony would want to stay closer. Remodel? What remodel? When did Tony start to remodel the mansion? it had to have been before he sold the Tower.... Was it when they were still married? What kind of remodel had he done? 

Steve was starting to internally freak out. Had Tony remodeled that awful memory for him? Why had he moved there even after the remodel? Why did he sell the tower?  
His internal panic was broken by the arrival of Vision through his door. Despite himself he smiled. Never had managed to break him from that habit. "Hey Vision." 

"Captain." Vision's soft British tone hadn't changed in the months that Steve was gone. "I just wanted to make sure you were comfortable. I believe that Tony was diligent in maintaining it the way it was when you left it." 

"Yeah Viz, It's fine. Not exactly the way I left it but it will do." 

Vision's soft smile faded, "Well no not exactly the same. Sadly that was not possible due to the circumstances. How are you doing?"

Steve's face fell, he scrambled to fix it before Viz saw it. He was not successful. "Uhh.. fine. We're fine" 

"No need to hide from me Steve, I made have been standing with Tony during the War but I still consider you a friend." 

Steve sighed again. " I am not doing great, Viz, I did not want this. But what choice did I have? After everything that happened?"

"I believe there is no good answer to that, Steve. Time will only tell if you made the correct decision. I will leave you to your unpacking. Remember, that we are still a team if not a little divided at the moment. The pieces can still be put back together."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I added a little of Homecoming in there. I will add some of Ragnarok in there too later. I couldn't resist adding a little Steve and Vision. I really think Vision would understand both side better than most, because he isn't human and ins't as complicated with emotions like the rest of us. He is still learning what it means to be human. Comments are welcome. loved and appreciated. I will get around to approving them when I can. I am only approving those I think will not start up the fighting again.


	5. A few phone calls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this took so long. I have multiple excuses, all of which none of you want to hear. I hope you enjoy this update.

Chap 5.  
Tony sat alone is his lab, uncharacteristically quiet. His normally loud music turned off. He had his hand wrapped around a long cold cup of coffee. His mind lost in thoughts. Thoughts of the past, thoughts of where he had gone wrong and thoughts of where to go next. How to handle living in the same state as the ex-husband he was still in love with.   
He knew that at some point he was going to have to talk to all the returned avengers and have a very personal conversation with Steve. None of those conversations will be fun, least of all the one with Steve. 

And where the hell was Steve's sidekick? Was he still frozen in Wakandian paradise? Why didn't Steve bring him back with the rest of the merry men...and woman? Or had he reverted back to the Winter Soldier and was fucking around the world at the direction of HYDRA? Panic suddenly seized him. Had he been unfrozen? would he come to find Steve or Tony? Tony did blow off his arm and tried to kill him. 

"FRIDAY?" 

"Yes Boss?" 

"Call King Kitten." 

"Of course... Connecting."

Tony waited till T'Challa's face appeared in a hologram. 

T'Challa smiled at the sight of Tony, "What can I do for you, Tony?" 

Tony adopted what he hoped was a nonchalant air, "Nothing much Kitty Cat, I have received the loud and angry package you sent. Really, you shouldn't have. " 

T'Challa chuckled, "If I remember correctly, you specifically asked for that particular package to be sent back to you. " 

Tony smiled, "Well of course I did, it was mine first, you know I don't share well."

T'Challa grinned again briefly. His face changing into a questioning look, raising his left eyebrow. "I know that is not what you called me about. What can I do for you Tony?"  
Tony felt his face fall. "Ok I called because a certain brainwashed soldier was missing from the packing list." 

T'Challa nodded, serious. "Barnes is still in Cryo until we can find solid way to pull the HYDRA programming out of his memory. When we do wake him up, he is quick to respond to our questions. He is orientated to place, person and time. He knows what happened to him and that the other avengers were sent back to America."   
Tony nodded, eyes down casted. "Ok, good. He is doing better then. What are you doing to get rid of the programming?" 

"Mostly exposure therapy with saying a few words and letting him bring himself out of the mind set. So far he is doing well. The last few times he has been able to fight off the programming. We now can use the Russian equivalents of longing, rusted, and furnace which are the first three words of his programming. He has told us the words must be used in sequence. So, we always move one word further each time. He returns to himself faster each time. He never fully reaches the winter soldier state. However, the sooner he can fight off the beginning of the programming the faster he might be able to break the programming all together."

Tony processed this. It sounded good to him. Barnes will obviously need more therapy than just this, but the first step is to break the programming. He thought back to his BARF technology, would it be helpful even at this stage of development? Could it hurt Barnes? Tony turned his eyes back to T'Challa. "I am going to send you something. Keep it under the radar, will you? It's not been released to the public yet and has not been fully tested either."

"Is this your "Binary Augmented Retro-Framing, or B.A.R.F. technology?" 

"How did you know?" Tony was confused. That was only revealed to the MIT students. 

"Your lecture at MIT was recorded and put on YouTube." 

"Of course it was." Tony mentally face palmed. Reveal a top secret project to a few hundred scientists and not one can keep their mouth shut. "Anyway, yes I am going to be sending you a prototype for Barnes, with his permission you can try and see if it will help him. Be sure to write everything down, it's for science.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Steve had a headache. He has been pouring over the newest batch of Accords. He was sitting in the conference room in the compound. Papers scattered all over the large table in front of him. His elbows on the table, his face in his hands.

The world had changed so much since he went into the ice. Mostly for the better, but some things have gotten crazy. Ever since the destruction of Sokovia, and Ultron, the world had gone crazy, the government wants to control everything, to stop the avengers from getting where we need to be. 

It wasn't just the insanity of the Accords that was giving him a headache, it was Tony. He wasn't acting like normal. Even considering the divorce, he wasn't be himself. Steve knew Tony, inside and out. They had been together for over four years, married for three. 

Tony was stood up and faced a problem straight on kind of guy. He would look you in the eyes and challenge anyone who dared to take him on. Now, Tony wouldn't look Steve in the eye. He wasn't nearly as snarky as he should have been. 

Steve had expect loud and brash Tony, like after every of their other fights. Steve didn't recognize the one that had greeted him on the Helipad.   
Steve's head bolted up. "FRIDAY?" 

"Yes Captain." Steve winced. Before the war, FRIDAY referred to him as Steve or when she felt extra sassy, Boss 2. Being back as Captain did not look good for him. 

"Is Tony receiving phone calls?"

"Is this a personal matter or referring to the Accords?"

"... personal." Steve hesitated because he knew if he said personal odds were that FRIDAY would say no, if he lied and then made it personal after connecting to Tony, She would drop the call. 

"Sir is currently on the phone with King T'Challa. Would you like to leave a message?"

Steve blinked, he was not expecting that. More like a outright refusal. Tony must have told her to play nice. "Yes, I would. Thank you, Friday."

"Connecting..... Please leave your message in 3...2..1..."

"Hey Tony, This is Steve, I am not really sure what to say.... I am worried about you, living in the mansion, selling your tower.. it's not like you. I know you are probably mad at me, but we really should talk about the papers I sent you. Why I sent them.... I still care for you.....I.... I still love you.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it wasn't a super long update and there are probably more than a few mistakes. I just ask that you remember that this is fan fiction. I am trying to keep it as canon as possible but in the end, it isn't supposed to be just like Canon. I appreciate all the kudos and comments they make my day!!


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